The biodiversity of tropic rain forest is famous , but there is another ecosystem that accounts for much of the plant kingdom on a petite constituent of the Earth ’s surface . Surprisingly , it is the shrublands that grow on the sterile dry grime in Mediterranean climates . A young study divulge the importance of the bacteria and fungi that populate these soils .
More than half the works mintage on the satellite mature in tropic rainforests , a understanding their wipeout is so terrific and tragical . The earthly concern ’s five Mediterranean climatical region support another 20 per centum and , according to Dr Michael Renton of the University of Western Australia , most of these live not in forests but among the grim shrubs – sometimes facetiously called “ human knee - high tropical rain forest ” , which scratch out a bread and butter on wretched , dry soils .
The paradox of such variety in such an unpromising position has puzzled scientists for a farsighted time . Now , Renton and his workfellow have published a newspaper inSciencethat helps explain the mystery .
Their team gather up soil sampling from South - West Western Australia ’s shrublands . Even in equivalence to similar clime geographical zone , this region is amazingly diverse , something Renton told IFLScience is part attributable to its long period undisturbed by glaciers or geologic alteration .
The dirt here is very poor in nutrients , but rich in micro-organism . Some of these form symbiotic relationships with the plants , while others are pathogens . The authors experimented with growing 16 native plant life species in the filth samples they collected , comparing the species that had been grow in that particular dirt with those from exchangeable soil elsewhere .
They found that certain plant prefer to develop in soil that had recently grown a extremity of their species , getting back together the symbiotic band with territory microbes that had nourished the same plant life . Other plants , notably nitrogen - fixers , suffered when place in soil familiar to their species .
“ Pathogens are an obvious account ” for these so - call “ minus feedback loop , " Renton told IFLScience . " You grow in the same soil for awhile and the bad bugs build up up . " But Renton and his confrere found there were other reason as well . With so few nutrients useable , plants have evolve finical techniques to extract what they can . Eventually , these stop exploit and it becomes necessary to give the location a residuum and allow someone with a different glide path try for for a while .
The combination of these different responses has serve bring on exceptional specialization , which in turn leads to the region ’s extraordinary biologic diversity in the midst of such broken productivity . The author consider their work will serve explain and preserve other particularly divers ecosystem .
Banksia attenuata from the Jurien Bay shrublands is one of the many species of banksia found in the orbit . Francois Teste
